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| The Golden Age Of Couture - Exclusive To Bendigo Art Gallery |
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The Golden Age Of Couture - Exclusive To Bendigo Art Gallery
 The largest exhibition of haute couture to come to Australia will open in December 2008.
Featuring more than 250 pieces from some of the greatest international designers, the exhibition, developed by the Victoria & Albert Museum and exclusive to Bendigo Art Gallery within Australia will include works from Christian Dior, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Hubert de Givenchy and Pierre Balmain.
Showcasing more than 100 complete haute couture dresses and evening gowns, the exhibition will also feature selections of finely crafted textiles made by specialist artisans, original design books, illustrations, accessories and fashion photography from Cecil Beaton and Richard Avedon
This exhibition marks a momentous decade in fashion history. Beginning with the launch of Christian Dior’s’ New Look’ in 1947 and ending in 1957, the period was described by Dior as the ‘golden age’. Setting a new standard for creative design and impeccable workmanship, the work produced during this period has rarely been surpassed; and this exhibition unprecedented.
Director of Bendigo Art Gallery Karen Quinlan said ’The Golden Age of Couture is the largest exhibition ever staged at Bendigo Art Gallery. It is the most challenging and adventurous in terms of size, but also content, with a combination of some of the finest dresses, textiles and accessories created in the 20th century alongside the work of world class photographers.’
Evening gowns, cocktail dresses and suits, some of the finest examples representing the zenith of couture will be displayed. Among the exhibition highlights is a Zemire evening jacket and skirt, one of Dior’s most distinctive designs, of which no example was previously thought to have survived. A scarlet version of the skirt, jacket and bodice to be included in the exhibition, was found recently in a cellar by the River Seine in Paris and bought by the V&A at auction in 2006.
Dresses worn by the Duchess of Windsor, the Duchess of Devonshire and the ballerina Margot Fonteyn as well as members of the Royal Family will also feature in the exhibition.
Cristóbal Balenciaga is one of the designers featured in the exhibition, was regarded by many, including Christian Dior, as the master. His couture house produced 356 designs per year - less than half of Dior's production of 815, which was a mark of Balenciaga's exacting standards.
He was renowned in the trade for inspecting and resetting sleeves that were not perfect. Christian Dior once commented upon seeing a Balenciaga suit, 'Only Balenciaga would be capable of producing such perfection'.
From 1947 onwards Balenciaga offered two styles of suit: the first fitted and in line with the hour-glass shape of Dior’s New Look, the second semi-fitted or loose.
Pierre Balmain, like Dior, worked for Lucien Lelong before opening his couture house in 1945. By 1956 he had 600 employees and 12 couture workrooms. The 'jeune fille' summer dress to be exhibited has a boned petticoat, showing the care given even to the under-garments. Ginette Spanier, Balmain’s directrice, remarked, 'If a seam is not quite right, that is a matter of life and death.'
Many of the pieces showcased in The Golden Age of Couture were produced in separate in-house workshops and finished by specialist ateliers across France. Floral accessories, embroidery, beading and ribbon work were created by hand in small workshops, much as they had been since the 18th century, while entire streets were devoted to glove makers, shoe makers and furriers.
The production of couture was important to the prestige and economy of both France and Britain. While traditionally catering for wealthy private clients, the couture houses also sought new markets. As the decade progressed, they created perfumes, opened boutiques and licensed their designs to foreign manufacturers. By the late 1950s, the leading couture houses had become global brands.
Although couture has never achieved such dizzy heights in the decades since, the show will conclude with an outfit by John Galliano from his 2005-06 collection for Dior, incorporating embroidery and handcraftsmanship in a clear tribute to the master.
Displayed to accentuate the meticulous handcraft that each custom-made piece required, the dresses will also be accompanied by fashion photography by Cecil Beaton and Richard Avedon and illustrations from the V&A’s archives. Archive footage will include Stafford Cripps as director of the Board of Trade insisting the New Look must be ignored for fear it would ‘encourage women to be frivolous’. The exhibition is supported by an outstanding publication ‘The Golden Age of Couture’.
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